Weekend Update
Hello gentle and not so gentle readers. It is the end of the weekend and I had a very good time. I did not do very much but still it was enjoyable for me to rest.
I had called the old girl friend on Thursday morning to ask her a lending question. I thought my boss was off-base in one of his comments about a credit I had presented for approval. Since she has been a commercial lender for a long time and went to banking school, I wanted to get her opinion.
She called me around 9:45 PM, just after I had hoped into bed after tossing out my Weekend Preview blog. She was tired so it was not a long conversation. She readily agreed with my deal structure approach.
Then, she talked about her new manager who does not seem to be very well qualified. The new manager is making the most common mistake all first time managers make; the new manager is micro-managing. Micro-managing may be a fine approach when you are in charge of a McDonald’s restaurant. Micro-managing will never work when you are managing a group of highly skilled professionals who probably have forgotten more than the new manager will ever learn.
I suspect morale in the group is probably lower than that Russian submarine was in Petropavlovsk.
Friday was Day 15 in the building next door non-deconstruction work. One of the project’s two portable toilets was reclaimed by its owner. Now, that has to be one of the worse jobs ever in a civilized society; that of portable toilet service person. Cleaning them just makes my skin crawl.
Friday was also the monthly Donut Friday in the office. I bring in donuts on the first Friday of the month for the staff in the office. I also bring in a box of donuts for the valets that park and retrieve my car everyday. They have a thankless job and I doubt that many of their regular building customers appreciate the work they do. I certainly do.
My car is always parked at the front of the parking spaces; it is usually ready for me by the time I walk across the driveway to the parking structure. They are always friendly and cheerful with me. I also tip them on a monthly basis. I wonder how many others do the same, if I had to guess I would say not very many.
Life has a way of balancing things out it seems.
Friday was another wedding invitation for me. This was my third wedding invitation of the Summer. This is more than I have received in the last 15 years. I guess the wedding invitation drought is over for me.
This wedding will be in Houston, Texas at the end of September. The bride and I have been friends and acquaintances since 1998 when I hired her to manage one of the credit union’s branch offices in Houston. Even though I left the credit union in 2000, we have remained friends and in contact.
We shared a common love of the cinema. Sandra used to enjoy the Big Guy and Chuck Go to the Movies email that we used to send out after hitting the cinema for three or four films in a weekend.
Email is wonderful for that sort of thing, maintaining friendships.
Since the Big Guy is semi-off on his own now, we don’t go to the cinema more than three or four times a year now. When we do it is usually to see an independent, foreign, or art house film that is playing out by his house.
The weather on Saturday was just plain ugly. It was not that hot at the beach. It was the humidity. I don’t recall humidity being this bad since I was a youngest and served as an officer on the good ship USS Leonard F. Mason (DD-852), part of the old Asiatic Squadron in the great Pacific Fleet. It was humid like this when we sailed in the South China Sea in the late 1960s.
I did manage to visit my local cinema this weekend and I saw two films that many of you have already seen by now. I saw CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY and WEDDING CRASHERS.
As a general rule, I do not like remakes. I believe that the first version was probably the better one to see. I do make an exception if the film is a re-release and the director has added back in deleted scenes and more explanatory footage.
I saw the original WILLIE WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY with Gene Wilder went it came. I was probably married back then. I enjoyed the original version.
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is a much darker version of the Dahl classic. It was more like a rich creamy dark chocolate candy and the Wilder version was like milk chocolate. I have always enjoyed Tim Burton’s films, even MARS ATTACKS a film that many hated. Burton has a darker sense of humor that I enjoy. This was a more satisfying film for me. Maybe I am older and more sophisticated when it comes to films because I have been hanging around the Big Guy so long.
I am also looking forward to seeing Burton’s upcoming film, THE CORPSE BRIDE.
The other film was the WEDDING CRASHERS. This was a typical Summer film where you can leave your mind behind and just enjoy the film. I did do just that; I enjoyed this film as well. I thought Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson worked very well together and it as if they were having as much fun making the film as I did watching it.
My only negative comment was the film did not allow Christopher Walken to come out and play the character better. He can be so broodingly dark and fun with his characteristic delivery style.
Since WEDDING CRASHERS has done so well in the domestic box office, it is likely the studio will make a sequel. A sequel will be relatively modest because most of cast is not on the A-list yet. It would be nice to see a sequel take place when the Walken character becomes President of the United States. Think of all of the interesting plot points and slick special effects like using Air Force 1 for example. I can see how the Vaughn and Owen characters would try to build their business based on close connections to the President.
When I left off with The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin, the Japanese decided to change their strategy since they seemed unable to defeat the Koreans at sea. Their last engagement had cost the Japanese over 100 lost ships and crews while the Koreans suffered some easily repairable damage to their ships and less than 40 casualties.
The Japanese plan to attack the Korean navy bases from the land side. Here, their armies are numerically and technologically superior. Once you destroy the navy base, the fleet has no where to go. Then, the country is lost and the Japanese army marches on to greater glory and invades mainland China.
The last episode had a large Japanese army about to attack the last Korean fort that blocked the way to the coastal navy bases. It is time for a miracle for the Koreans. The Jinju Fort held out for almost a week until it was relieved. It was sort of like the Korean version of the Alamo except that they won. Their victory helped to destroy the morale of the Japanese army since this was their first defeat in the war. It also helped move the Japanese to the discussion table for a truce.
The Chinese or Ming as they were called then sent another army to help the Koreans. The Chinese were also two faced; they supported the Koreans half heartedly while they negotiated with the Japanese to resolve the war without having to expend any soldiers in the process. The Chinese were willing to sacrifice the Koreans out of China.
In the end, appeasement never ever works. It did not work in the 1930s and will not work in the 1590s.
Appeasement only allows the bully more time to become stronger and the other side weaker from a false sense of security. It only prolongs the time to finally resolve the matter. The Chinese will gain nothing by appeasement. In the end, they will have to fight a difficult war with their Korean allies.
It was a sort of a Yi Soon Shin marathon with me being able to watch four episodes. I am now up to 83. I am thinking this will end around episode 100 or so. That gives the show 17 more episodes for the Koreans to win the war.
The Big Guy and I went to Albertacos for lunch today. We had our usual, two Number 8s and two medium drinks for there. I drank Coca Cola and had actually two drinks since I refilled my cup as we were leaving. My blood pressure was elevated from the extra caffeine.
Still, it was a good lunch for both of us.
That was my weekend. I hope your weekend was fun and worthwhile.
Be well and stay happy.
I had called the old girl friend on Thursday morning to ask her a lending question. I thought my boss was off-base in one of his comments about a credit I had presented for approval. Since she has been a commercial lender for a long time and went to banking school, I wanted to get her opinion.
She called me around 9:45 PM, just after I had hoped into bed after tossing out my Weekend Preview blog. She was tired so it was not a long conversation. She readily agreed with my deal structure approach.
Then, she talked about her new manager who does not seem to be very well qualified. The new manager is making the most common mistake all first time managers make; the new manager is micro-managing. Micro-managing may be a fine approach when you are in charge of a McDonald’s restaurant. Micro-managing will never work when you are managing a group of highly skilled professionals who probably have forgotten more than the new manager will ever learn.
I suspect morale in the group is probably lower than that Russian submarine was in Petropavlovsk.
Friday was Day 15 in the building next door non-deconstruction work. One of the project’s two portable toilets was reclaimed by its owner. Now, that has to be one of the worse jobs ever in a civilized society; that of portable toilet service person. Cleaning them just makes my skin crawl.
Friday was also the monthly Donut Friday in the office. I bring in donuts on the first Friday of the month for the staff in the office. I also bring in a box of donuts for the valets that park and retrieve my car everyday. They have a thankless job and I doubt that many of their regular building customers appreciate the work they do. I certainly do.
My car is always parked at the front of the parking spaces; it is usually ready for me by the time I walk across the driveway to the parking structure. They are always friendly and cheerful with me. I also tip them on a monthly basis. I wonder how many others do the same, if I had to guess I would say not very many.
Life has a way of balancing things out it seems.
Friday was another wedding invitation for me. This was my third wedding invitation of the Summer. This is more than I have received in the last 15 years. I guess the wedding invitation drought is over for me.
This wedding will be in Houston, Texas at the end of September. The bride and I have been friends and acquaintances since 1998 when I hired her to manage one of the credit union’s branch offices in Houston. Even though I left the credit union in 2000, we have remained friends and in contact.
We shared a common love of the cinema. Sandra used to enjoy the Big Guy and Chuck Go to the Movies email that we used to send out after hitting the cinema for three or four films in a weekend.
Email is wonderful for that sort of thing, maintaining friendships.
Since the Big Guy is semi-off on his own now, we don’t go to the cinema more than three or four times a year now. When we do it is usually to see an independent, foreign, or art house film that is playing out by his house.
The weather on Saturday was just plain ugly. It was not that hot at the beach. It was the humidity. I don’t recall humidity being this bad since I was a youngest and served as an officer on the good ship USS Leonard F. Mason (DD-852), part of the old Asiatic Squadron in the great Pacific Fleet. It was humid like this when we sailed in the South China Sea in the late 1960s.
I did manage to visit my local cinema this weekend and I saw two films that many of you have already seen by now. I saw CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY and WEDDING CRASHERS.
As a general rule, I do not like remakes. I believe that the first version was probably the better one to see. I do make an exception if the film is a re-release and the director has added back in deleted scenes and more explanatory footage.
I saw the original WILLIE WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY with Gene Wilder went it came. I was probably married back then. I enjoyed the original version.
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is a much darker version of the Dahl classic. It was more like a rich creamy dark chocolate candy and the Wilder version was like milk chocolate. I have always enjoyed Tim Burton’s films, even MARS ATTACKS a film that many hated. Burton has a darker sense of humor that I enjoy. This was a more satisfying film for me. Maybe I am older and more sophisticated when it comes to films because I have been hanging around the Big Guy so long.
I am also looking forward to seeing Burton’s upcoming film, THE CORPSE BRIDE.
The other film was the WEDDING CRASHERS. This was a typical Summer film where you can leave your mind behind and just enjoy the film. I did do just that; I enjoyed this film as well. I thought Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson worked very well together and it as if they were having as much fun making the film as I did watching it.
My only negative comment was the film did not allow Christopher Walken to come out and play the character better. He can be so broodingly dark and fun with his characteristic delivery style.
Since WEDDING CRASHERS has done so well in the domestic box office, it is likely the studio will make a sequel. A sequel will be relatively modest because most of cast is not on the A-list yet. It would be nice to see a sequel take place when the Walken character becomes President of the United States. Think of all of the interesting plot points and slick special effects like using Air Force 1 for example. I can see how the Vaughn and Owen characters would try to build their business based on close connections to the President.
When I left off with The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin, the Japanese decided to change their strategy since they seemed unable to defeat the Koreans at sea. Their last engagement had cost the Japanese over 100 lost ships and crews while the Koreans suffered some easily repairable damage to their ships and less than 40 casualties.
The Japanese plan to attack the Korean navy bases from the land side. Here, their armies are numerically and technologically superior. Once you destroy the navy base, the fleet has no where to go. Then, the country is lost and the Japanese army marches on to greater glory and invades mainland China.
The last episode had a large Japanese army about to attack the last Korean fort that blocked the way to the coastal navy bases. It is time for a miracle for the Koreans. The Jinju Fort held out for almost a week until it was relieved. It was sort of like the Korean version of the Alamo except that they won. Their victory helped to destroy the morale of the Japanese army since this was their first defeat in the war. It also helped move the Japanese to the discussion table for a truce.
The Chinese or Ming as they were called then sent another army to help the Koreans. The Chinese were also two faced; they supported the Koreans half heartedly while they negotiated with the Japanese to resolve the war without having to expend any soldiers in the process. The Chinese were willing to sacrifice the Koreans out of China.
In the end, appeasement never ever works. It did not work in the 1930s and will not work in the 1590s.
Appeasement only allows the bully more time to become stronger and the other side weaker from a false sense of security. It only prolongs the time to finally resolve the matter. The Chinese will gain nothing by appeasement. In the end, they will have to fight a difficult war with their Korean allies.
It was a sort of a Yi Soon Shin marathon with me being able to watch four episodes. I am now up to 83. I am thinking this will end around episode 100 or so. That gives the show 17 more episodes for the Koreans to win the war.
The Big Guy and I went to Albertacos for lunch today. We had our usual, two Number 8s and two medium drinks for there. I drank Coca Cola and had actually two drinks since I refilled my cup as we were leaving. My blood pressure was elevated from the extra caffeine.
Still, it was a good lunch for both of us.
That was my weekend. I hope your weekend was fun and worthwhile.
Be well and stay happy.
posted by Chuck Reinhardt at 9:18 PM
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